The Fed at work and China snubs Putin

16 September 2022

The period of mourning for Queen Elizabeth II continues amid truly touching scenes. Our Chief Economist’s walk from Rotherhithe to the Tatton office follows the path of the waiting line for the Queen’s “Lying-in-State”....

The end of eras

9 September 2022

With great sadness, we pass from the second Elizabethan age. Our Queen was a constant during this period of intensely rapid change. Across the political spectrum, we can acknowledge her ceaseless responsibility to her people....

Waiting for policy action

2 September 2022

The summer is nearing its end and with it the return of the more typical English late summer climes. It may feel as if markets have taken a hint with their 5-day downdraft until Thursday, although most outsiders will look at the...

Delicate equilibrium

26 August 2022

All eyes are on the world’s central bankers this week, who are guests of the US Federal Reserve (Fed) at its annual conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Markets are particularly eager to hear what Fed chair Jay Powell has to...

Hot now, colder later

19 August 2022

Will a new PM be good news for investors? We rarely talk about UK politics in our deliberations on markets. That’s not because we’re not interested. Rather, it is because domestic politics have less of an effect on the broader...

Fear of missing out

12 August 2022

Investors are feeling FOMO: the “fear of missing out” once again. This week was a continuation of the trend from the start of July – which has seen a significant boost to both bond and equity markets. Curiously, the good...

Markets bet on a perfect landing

5 August 2022

Bad news filled the airwaves this week. Faltering global growth, higher inflation forecasts and rising interest rates set a dour tone – capped off by a geopolitical crisis in Taiwan. UK investors were struck by the Bank of England’s...

Positive returns amidst negative sentiment

29 July 2022

For a second consecutive quarter, the US economy shrank in real terms. Yet the US Federal Reserve (Fed) raised interest rates by another 0.75% on Wednesday because the US economy is too strong. We write, in a separate article...

Europe remains in focus

22 July 2022

Global investors tend to be quite US-focused, as the world’s largest economy has an outsized impact on trends across the world. This week though, attention was on the other side of the Atlantic. European economic data caught...

Too hot, too cold

15 July 2022

Investors’ rough ride continued over the week. Markets are being buffeted by the ups and downs of economic data and the resultant changing expectations for central banks. We had unexpectedly positive UK economic growth during...